“Go save your company.”
She stepped backward.
“Your company too.”
The door closed behind her.
Daniel stood alone for several seconds.
Then his daughter’s voice came from the hallway.
“You like her.”
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
“Go to bed.”
“I knew it.”
The bait was set at 11:00 p.m.
Alexandra told the board the company planned a controlled restart at six the following morning.
Only senior executives received the message.
Within ninety minutes, activity began.
Not in the malware.
In people.
The Board Chairman called Legal.
The Chief Financial Officer requested emergency valuation data.
A director contacted an investment bank.
And NorthBridge Capital requested an “informal strategic conversation.”
Alexandra stared at the request.
Six hours before the supposed restart.
Daniel joined by secure video.
“Too fast.”
“Yes.”
“Could be opportunistic.”
“Yes.”
She looked toward him.
“You hate certainty.”
“I hate premature certainty.”
She smiled.
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Alexandra opened another report.
“Someone queried our business-continuity insurance limits.”
“When?”
“Forty minutes ago.”
“Who?”
The Chief Financial Officer.
Daniel sat forward.
“That matters.”
“Why?”
“If they expect a crash, they want to know how much runway the company has before a forced sale.”
Alexandra’s stomach tightened.
At three in the morning, Security discovered something worse.
A board-level emergency credential had been accessed three times during the original attack.
The account required two-person authorization.
One authorization belonged to the Chairman.
The second appeared to belong to Alexandra.
She stared at the record.
“I never approved this.”
Daniel’s face appeared on her monitor.
“I know.”
“How?”
“Your hardware token wasn’t used.”
“Then somebody cloned my authorization.”
“Probably.”
“Who can?”
“Someone with transition-office access.”
Alexandra thought of the hundreds of documents exchanged during the CEO handover.
Executive assistants.
Board staff.
Legal.
Security.
IT.
Too many.
Daniel continued.
“This may be why the attack started when you arrived.”
“To frame me?”
“If necessary.”
Alexandra went silent.
A sophisticated contingency.
Blame former CTO first.
If that failed, logs could suggest the new CEO approved emergency access.
Leadership chaos.
Regulators.
Board removes her.
Acquisition becomes rescue.
The attack was not theft.
It was corporate warfare.
Alexandra looked toward the city outside.
“Come in.”
Daniel frowned.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“It’s three sixteen.”
“I know.”
“My daughter—”
“Bring her.”
He stared.
“To a cyber incident?”
“To my office.”
“She has school.”
“She can sleep.”
“You really have no boundaries.”
“Daniel.”
He sighed.
“Forty minutes.”
He arrived with his sleeping daughter wrapped in a coat.
Alexandra had one of the executive lounge rooms converted into a quiet sleeping space.
Daniel looked at the made bed.
“You arranged this?”